Year
2K is approaching fast. Are you ready? There has
been so much hype that it is hard to separate the
fact from the fiction. We run so hard to keep up
with the Y99, I am not sure we will be all that
disappointed if things slow down a little bit
January 1, 2000.

As
director of the Paintsville/ Johnson County
Emergency Management Agency for over 40 years, Jim
Tom Newman has seen his share of emergencies and
disasters. Having overseen response plans for
fires, floods and blizzards, Newman says he's not
going to let something like the Y2K scare get him
overly excited.

The
greatest concern in transportation as it regards
Y2K is apparently in air travel. The uncertainty of
whether or not computers will function properly as
the final seconds of 1999 tick away has many
would-be travelers a little antsy.

Worried
about feeding the family should the Y2K bug run
amok? Well, you may have to digress a bit to the
hunter/gatherer mode, but you shouldn't have to
look too far for sustenance. As a matter of fact,
you may not have to look any farther than your own
driveway.

Predictions
concerning the impact of Y2K glitch range from the
inconvenient to the apocolyptic. But while no one can be
absolutely sure how far-reaching the millennium bug will be,
new evidence is starting to give the impression that results
will fall somewhere between the two extremes.

Perhaps
you're a computer novice or don't even own a computer. Maybe
you're a seasoned computer professional who just doesn't get
all the hype. Or perhaps you've heard all about Y2K and
can't understand why there's such a fuss about the change
from 1999 to 2000. In any case, you're probably asking
yourself the same question millions of others are --what's
the big deal anyway?

The
discussion (controversy?) surrounding Y2K preparedness lies
not in any argument about how many cans of soup per person
per day, but in how many days we should prepare for, if any?
What depth of self reliance is called for, if any? What
threats to safety, if any, will Y2K disruptions impose on
us?

Although
the arrival of the new millennium has the general public
preparing for the worst, the doomsayers were nearly obsolete
as people anticipated a much brighter future when the 1900s
rolled around.